Weekly Bond Poll: Round 59: secondary Bond girls & helicopter flights

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Comments

  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    BT3366 wrote: »
    I have no idea if there is a goldeneye hawk, but sounds like something that could have such a title.
    Nope, but there is a Goldeneye Duck ... which is perhaps less flattering than a hawk!

    GoldenEye Hawk sounds like some sort of drone. Or a GoldenEye reboot. Or both.

    aa840d2c5e70a681869e00f50b39107a3fdadec6.png
    Of course as a descriptor that does exist in nature.
    f5294bb473541a44ac27f7f7c711cbdfb58b9b64.jpg


    So GE. And DAD.

  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    TWINE & TND
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited January 2020 Posts: 4,483
    I have a master in biology and never heard anything about a Goldeneye Duck... Good find.

    You are right @Major_Boothroyd , the TND finale isn't a highlight at all. TND is also in the last third of my ranking but it gained two spots last year

    Thanks for the kind words @pachazo . Interesting point about the forced relationship with the handcuffs. Their chemistry isn't by far the best in movie history but never bothered me at all (there are many other relationships I have more issues with…).
    While the idea with the handcuffs was in other action movies for sure, it is something we never saw in a Bond action scene before and I Always enjoy this part. And like you, Paris isn't enjoyable for me.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    I have a master in biology and never heard anything about a Goldeneye Duck... Good find.

    I’ve Pointless (a UK TV quiz show) to thank for that!


  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Sometimes you can even learn useful stuff on TV. ;)
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Posts: 4,520
    GoldenEye. How close you can go then title named to Fleming House on his holiday island.
    TMND. 3th or second favorite Bond movie and like first hour much more then one from DAD.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    edited January 2020 Posts: 45,489
    I have a master in biology and never heard anything about a Goldeneye Duck... Good find.

    You shouldn t admit that. You should always refer to yourself as a biologist here to claim superior knowledge about all life.
  • Goldeneye Title
    &
    1st hour of DAD.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I have a master in biology and never heard anything about a Goldeneye Duck... Good find.

    You shouldn t admit that. You should always refer to yourself as a biologist here to claim superior knowledge about all life.

    I know, I know, it is often my problem that I'm too honest...
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited January 2020 Posts: 4,483
    Good to have some votes for GE and DAD lately.


    I have to vote myself before it is too late. Both duels are difficult for me to decide.

    Since GE is the movie I watched most as a teenager and it is still one of my favourites, it isn't surprising that the title feels "good" in some way. Compared to others, I like the single word titles (well apart from SPECTRE). But it is true, that it isn't very creative to use the word "gold" for the third time. (By the way, did you know that the third Young Bond book by Charlie Higson (Double or Die) was changed to "GoldenBoy" for the german tranlation?! Now, that's a shitty Golden title! and it didn'd make sense at all).
    Both titles are connected to Fleming (which is cool), GE is much more Fitting because of the story…"TWINE" is only used by Bond that the title is legitimated, it feels a bit forced.
    Nevertheless, my vote goes to TWINE because it sounds like a good movie title in general (for a thriller or action flick and especially a Bond movie) , while GoldenEye is more fitting for a computer game.
    To sum up my verbiage: I like both titles and they are much better than the other Brosnan titles with " Die". TWINE wins only narrowly for me.

    The first hour is almost free from Sci-fi stuff and bad CGI (yes, there is that Jinx-jump...) and has some REALLY cool bits in it. I love the fencig battle and Halle Berry knows how to walk out of the sea. I even like the "London Calling" a lot. It's an interesting introduction for Graves and completely different to Moon's first scene.
    The first part of DAD is a solid hour which doesn't need to be hidden at all. Sadly, it doesn't go on the brave and darker path for long...the more serious tone is definitely gone after Bond is entering in the hotel (the scene is funny, but another movie starts from this point on)
    TND isn't a Bond movie highlight, but there is a lot to enjoy (the good build-up of the PTS, the Q scene, the Kaufman scene and much more). All in all, it enertains me alittle bit more than DAD's first hour.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Results of round 16:
    Better title: TWINE wins 13:6 against GE
    Better first hour: TND wins 14:5 against DAD
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Round 17: DN scenes vs. Rog scenes

    Which scene do you prefer (and why)?

    A) Spider in the bed (DN) vs. Snake in the bathroom (LALD)

    B) Dinner with Dr. No vs. Dinner with Scaramanga


  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Snake in the bathroom.
    Because Sir Rog is at first concerned, but then uses an ingenious method to dispose of the snake. Very cool.

    Dinner with Dr.No
    They're both great dinner with the villain scenes, and I could go either way with this. But DN was the first, and it's still a great scene. Sir Sean is constant in his attempts to provoke the villain. Completely unaware of the true opponent he's up against.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    You meant centipede of course, @Birdleson. Those things creep me out, even the minor versions I experience on the scale of spiders and caterpillars.

    Poisonous snake over the mildly venomous tarantula. Dinner with Dr. No over Scaramanga. Tough choices, still.

  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,589
    Snake and Dinner with Scaramanga
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    DN takes both.

    I love how the tarantula scene is set up, and its conclusion. Plus the look of sheer terror on Bond s face.

    The dinner scene with Dr No has never been bettered. His lair looks stunning, and the banter between him and Bond is top notch.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Snake in the bathroom. More realistic tension, ingenuity in eliminating the problem, accompanying score much more appropriate and adds to the moment.

    Dinner with Scaramanga. Bond's disdain for Scaramanaga vs. Scaramanga's lack of humanity and seeing it all as a playful challenge makes the scene more emotional. Also, the bits of ancillary dilagoue around wine selection and food discussion, showing gourmand tendencies, is another element that shows their similarity. Still the most effective use of 'dark side of Bond' in the series to me. Trevelyan and Silva were both scorned in their past and had personal vendettas against Mi6, where Scaramanga and Bond both had childhood circumstances that steered them in similar but opposite paths.
  • Posts: 1,917
    goldenswissroyale, you've done it again, twisting my mind into knots. But I love it. I look forward to these each weekend.

    For the animals, I will go with tarantula. This is a chilling passage in Fleming's book, but the filmmakers made the right decision in changing it to the tarantula. Who knew then, much less now, that a centipede is poisonous, but a tarantula is a universal source of fright, especially for people who hate spiders.

    Add in the sweat pouring from the normally unflappable Connery's face. In Dr. No, Bond is cool but actually appears nervous at several points and it's refreshing watching it with modern eyes. The capper is the aftermath when he goes to the bathroom to presumably get sick. Yep, Bond is human in this film and it's a good decision to not to be followed by a throwaway line.

    Special mention to Ted Moore's lighting of the scene, which adds to the atmosphere and it's one of the few times Monte Norman's score works well, save for the appalling notes coinciding with Connery stomping the tarantula. Very cheesy.

    I will also go with the Dr. No dining scene. Part of it is it's Dr. No's big reveal after being built up and in the shadows the whole film and it doesn't disappoint. That and you can cut the tension with a knife. I love the way even though all the odds are against him that Bond verbally engages and insults No. The capper may be No's line about being a pity to break the Dom Perignon followed by the brutal beating.

    The Scarmanga dinner scene is good, but Hamilton's light direction with the tour beforehand and chumminess takes away a bit. But what I like is Moore's edge in this film, especially in this part of the scene until the very end when he returns to the more familiar charming version of himself with talking about enjoying the lunch Nik Nack prepared. It takes away from the tension.
  • Snake in the bathroom- I don't really know why, but I do prefer the music with the snake than with the spider. And the way Roger dispatches of the snake is so charming, and he doesn't even flinch, unlike Connery. So I guess I do know why.

    Dr No- I honestly hold this scene up as one of the best in the series. This is really the only scene where we see Dr No, and this scene sets him up brilliantly. The dialogue, the performances, the tense silence are all top notch! TMWTGG just seems kind of awkward.
  • Snake hands down. The tarantula is painfully laughable for me.

    Dr. No as it has far superior dialogue, particularly on Bond's end. That said Saramanga is great as usual. Love how both villains are "disappointed" by Bond. Also I like how these two villains give justification for not killing Bond earlier, something that other films are mocked for.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    A) Spider

    B) Scaramanga. One of the best scenes in the series.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Dr. No's spider: I don't remember when I first saw DN, but I was still quite young and it was certainly before I saw LALD-- my old man was a Connery man (so home video pick-ups in the early days were the Connery films he grew up watching); this imagery has clung to me and reminds me of my childhood fears; the idea that DN went to this trouble to plant the spider in the bed, the way Bond twitches awake when he feels the creature climbing his body; the sweat of fear... it's a fantastic scene.

    Dr. No's Dinner: I do like the face-off between Scaramanga and Bond, but nothing tops the game between Bond and DN. This scene has never been bettered (and I love how Bond goes to slip a knife up his sleeve-- I always have the same response: what good will a knife do in this dire situation? And then it's clear that this knife wouldn't be used to escape, but instead, Bond knows that if he's doomed to death, he'll try and take out as many of these thugs as he can (or at least that's the way I've read into it for many years)).

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    [quote="peter;c-1068042"
    Dr. No's Dinner: I do like the face-off between Scaramanga and Bond, but nothing tops the game between Bond and DN. This scene has never been bettered (and I love how Bond goes to slip a knife up his sleeve-- I always have the same response: what good will a knife do in this dire situation? And then it's clear that this knife wouldn't be used to escape, but instead, Bond knows that if he's doomed to death, he'll try and take out as many of these thugs as he can (or at least that's the way I've read into it for many years)).

    [/quote]

    Or he is just a kleptomaniac.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    [quote="peter;c-1068042"
    Dr. No's Dinner: I do like the face-off between Scaramanga and Bond, but nothing tops the game between Bond and DN. This scene has never been bettered (and I love how Bond goes to slip a knife up his sleeve-- I always have the same response: what good will a knife do in this dire situation? And then it's clear that this knife wouldn't be used to escape, but instead, Bond knows that if he's doomed to death, he'll try and take out as many of these thugs as he can (or at least that's the way I've read into it for many years)).

    Or he is just a kleptomaniac.[/quote]

    ... with a special attraction for knives (bastard does the same thing in CR), pics of dead girlfriends (QoS), and; didn't he just keep Vesper's purse (contents and all)?; he's honest with taking other people's golf balls ("I believe this is yours"), but; he also steals identities (look no further than DaF-- you know, from G-Section); he's into a bit of kink with his kleptomaniacal ways, as we see him sucking away at the golden slug from a belly-dancer's belly-button...

    Thanks @Thunderfinger ... I have a new perspective on this so-called hero of ours....
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    peter wrote: »
    [quote="peter;c-1068042"
    Dr. No's Dinner: I do like the face-off between Scaramanga and Bond, but nothing tops the game between Bond and DN. This scene has never been bettered (and I love how Bond goes to slip a knife up his sleeve-- I always have the same response: what good will a knife do in this dire situation? And then it's clear that this knife wouldn't be used to escape, but instead, Bond knows that if he's doomed to death, he'll try and take out as many of these thugs as he can (or at least that's the way I've read into it for many years)).

    Or he is just a kleptomaniac.

    ... with a special attraction for knives (bastard does the same thing in CR), pics of dead girlfriends (QoS), and; didn't he just keep Vesper's purse (contents and all)?; he's honest with taking other people's golf balls ("I believe this is yours"), but; he also steals identities (look no further than DaF-- you know, from G-Section); he's into a bit of kink with his kleptomaniacal ways, as we see him sucking away at the golden slug from a belly-dancer's belly-button...

    Thanks @Thunderfinger ... I have a new perspective on this so-called hero of ours....[/quote]

    Don t forget all the vehicles he steals.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,433
    Bond should be human! The spider scene in DN takes my vote. I always found the set up of the snake scene in LALD to be a bit too contrived for my liking. Who the hell smokes a cigar while shaving? I mean a cigarette I can see but not a cigar. Too crazy for my liking. Plus the snake takes way to long to get towards Bond.

    Now the spider scene is a thing of beauty. We see fear in Bond. We can now surmise that this villain is going to take some effort to put down. The climb under the sheets is a thing of beauty. The audience doesn't know what is climbing up...we can think it's the spider Dent got but still the suspense of the scene is fantastic. My vote has to go here.

    The dinner scenes are comparable. I see we have two villains that seem to be unflappable but in one Bond needles and pokes the bear. The tension in DN is ratcheted up with each verbal exchange. In TMWTGG Bond's hate of Scaramenga is papable but the lead up is rather light and airy. DN takes both for me. DN for the dinner scene as well.
  • Agent_47Agent_47 Canada
    Posts: 330
    Spider
    And
    Dr. No dining scene

    This one was tough, went back and forth multiple times. Even though I prefer TMWTGG and LALD to Dr.No... it's impossible for me to let my bias get in the way of the tension of the spider and the brilliance of Bond's first confrontation with Dr. No.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    Snake - I can’t unsee the pane of glass in the spider scene. Plus I love Roger’s little toilette routine, and the spray aftershave - very 70s. This scene was sometimes cut from the UK TV showings of LALD (presumably in case lots of us teenagers decided to copy Roger and set fire to our hair) so it sticks in my mind as one of my favourite films, which you could play ‘guess whether the snake will appear’ every time it was shown.

    Dr No
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    The music makes the difference for me in the first round. While Connery's facial expressions are magnificent, I prefer the unflappable Moore in this instance. Plus, Martin's score perfectly builds to a crescendo while Norman's is quite lacking, most notably when Bond kills the spider. Also, no one can rock a cigar quite like Sir Rog. It was very wise not to follow in Connery's footsteps with the cigarettes. I'm voting Snake.

    While the Bond - Scaramanga lunch is great and a highlight of the film, The Dr. No Dinner Scene is a highlight of the entire series. The buildup, tension and dialogue are all outstanding. Great acting, great directing, one of Adams' all time best sets imho... what else can be said of such an amazing scene? Easy choice here.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited January 2020 Posts: 4,483
    Thanks for your votes so far. I know I write it reguarly, but I really love to read all your comments and thoughts.

    I believe it is the first time that you didn't vote for a Connery movie @Birdleson . I hope Sir Sean won't find out!

    The first battle is difficult for me but I will give my vote to the spider. Question is, if you prefer a more horrific approach with much more tension where Bond seems to be in real danger (it was explained perfectly by the supporters above, i.e by @peter ) or the stylisher and lighter way that was chosen for Roger. Both scenes are good and it was perfectly adapted for Roger. I support @pachazo's (and others) point that the snake scene has better music. This is the reason that the spider only wins by a length of a spider's leg.

    As @Benny or @BT3366 mentioned, the deliberate provocation against Dr. No is the main reason why this dinner scene stands out in the series for me. So cool. Another interesting point was mentioned by JamesStock:
    JamesStock wrote: »

    Dr. No as it has far superior dialogue, particularly on Bond's end. That said Saramanga is great as usual. Love how both villains are "disappointed" by Bond. Also I like how these two villains give justification for not killing Bond earlier, something that other films are mocked for.
    Never thought about that, but that's another nice observation.

    Both scenes feature a brief but great comment about quality wines/champagnes. I like it, how Scaramanga makes a note to buy the wine that Bond mentioned. They are both Kind of gourmets and it shows that Scaramanga is sure that he will win…

    The dinner with Scaramange is good but it has no chance to beat the classic scene. And: I definitely prefer a dinner with Honey than Goodnight.

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